Contents

Get in

The Moon has had no known visitors since the end of the Apollo program in 1972. America's NASA, the European Space Agency and the Chinese space program all have apparently serious plans to return, but none are in a hurry: NASA's target date for the next man on the moon is 2018, while both the ESA and the Chinese are aiming at 2024. India has also expressed its hope to send a manned mission to the Moon by 2020.

If you're content with just taking a closer look, Space Adventures and the Russian Space Agency have floated the idea of a flight around the moon for a cool US$100 million or so; see Space for details.

Get around

Conventional aircraft are useless on the Moon since there is no atmosphere to generate the aerodynamic lift they require to fly. The primary method of transportation has been lunar rovers, three of which are still stranded at Mons Hadley, the Descartes Highland and the Taurus-Littrow valley.

Gravity on the Moon's surface is only one-sixth of the Earth, which compensates in part for having to wear a bulky pressurized spacesuit.

See

Luna 2, Exact location unknown (Near Aristides, Archimedes, and Autolycus craters). The first man made object to reach the Moon

Tranquility Base, Mare Tranquillitatis (Near Sabine and Ritter craters). The site of the first human landing on the Moon.

Earth. Visible from only one side of the Moon

Dark Side of The Moon. Visit the part of the moon that is not visible from the earth. Also visible in most good music shops.

Do

Rock collecting is the most obvious hobby, and it's easy to do since the Moon is one giant rock. Dust collecting is also a favorite among tourists.

Play golf. There are no established golf courses available, but the moon does provide you with an excellent opportunity to practice your sand trap shots.

Do the moonwalk. Could be tricky in a space-suit, but there is no better place to do it.

Buy

You can find ATMs in most places. They normally dispense US dollars. With Visa you get money at almost all ATMs. If you've got a MasterCard try the ATMs in the AM/PM supermarkets. Another option are the ATH-ATM's but they just give you up to 100,000 colones (c. 200 US$) each transaction. EC-Cards (European) are accepted on all ATMs. The limit is usually only set by the Card. In addition, drawing money with your EC-Card will almost always give you a better exchange rate than changing cash in a bank.
It is also very common to pay even small amounts by Credit Card (Visa, Master Card, Amex is less common). You might get a discount (such as between 5% and 10%) when paying in cash, but it is not common enough to be expected. Most places except smallest restaurants take credit cards and many places including the gas stations take American Express.

Eat

There are no restaurants or shops available on the Moon. Take all the food you need with you.

Drink

There is next to nothing to drink on the moon, bring your own bottled water from home. Although, there is ice located in deep craters in the polar regions.

Sleep

The next phase of lunar exploration will probably involve the construction of permanent manned bases in the Moon's polar regions. In the meantime, you're on your own.

Stay safe

Due to the fact that there are no humans on the moon, there is also no crime problem.

The universe however is out to get you and this will become all too apparent once you leave the comforts of Earth. In addition to the obvious problems of freezing cold temperatures and the lack of a breathable atmosphere, in order to stay alive you will have to take precautions:

Solar storms (there is no magnetic field to deflect these high energy particles)

Meteor impacts (there is no atmosphere to burn them before they impact the surface)